By and large, the Christian attitude toward the Jews was contemptuous. Justinian’s Novella 146 effectively attempts to ostracize the Jews from medieval social life by insulting their character and rendering them as arrogant outcasts. Their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah prompts him to refer to them as impious, foolish, and ignorant. Furthermore, he states that the punishment for being ‘ignorant of the knowledge of God’ was that they would be excluded from community commonplaces. The Novella threatened them with subjection first to corporal punishment, followed by exile and the deprivation of property. Essentially, adhering to their religious beliefs was in direct conflict with the Christian belief that Jesus is Messiah. Thus, the Jews faced extreme punishment for disregarding the Christian tradition by asserting that Jesus was not the Messiah. Similarly, the documents written at the Third Council of Toledo demonized the Jews and attempted to isolate them. It prohibited them from taking Christian wives, purchasing slaves and from holding public office positions so that they might not be enabled to avenge the Christians. The council justifies their suppression and segregation of the Jews by characterizing them as threatening and dangerous to the Christians. The Fourth Lateran Council sought to purify the Christendom of the ‘contaminating’ presence of the heretics and the Jews. Ironically, they accused the Jews of taking advantage of the Christians. To prevent the ‘savage oppression’ of the Christians by the Jews, Christians were allowed to abstain from commerce with them, which further cut them off from society. It called that they be distinguished in their dress under the authority of the Bible, referencing passages out of context that seemed to insinuate animal-like qualities of the Jews. The distinction of dress was a means of preventing the spread of the ‘damnable mixing’ of Jews and Christians. It goes on and on. Everything written is designed to portray the Jews as threatening and malicious so as to justify their suppression.

In 1096, Pope Urban II requested that the Holy Land be taken back from the Muslims, but the Crusaders decided to also attack the Christians. According to Madigan, medieval Christians blamed the Jews for the death of the Son of God. This was probably a huge motivating factor to act violently for the Crusaders. It was also mentioned that according to Christian doctrine, Jews were meant to live in servitude. Thus, when the Christians perceived that some Jews were living comfortable lives, they were enraged. Rabbi Eliezar interprets the violence as potentially as a tragedy that may precede the true coming of the Messiah. He mourns the violence and insults the Christians while comforting the audience with allusions to the Bible and with what appears to be the encouragement of martyrdom. Justinian’s Novella and the documents from the councils created an image of the Jews that rendered them dangerous and vengeful. It’s clear why those who read the documents believed Jews needed to be restrained and suppressed. These sources insinuated that the Christians might face impeding doom and oppression if they didn’t act now. Almost as if to say, “if we don’t do this to them, they will do it to us.” Thus, the violence ensued to keep them under control.